Monday, April 11, 2016

The sense of achievement of having done a solo Trans
Himalayan Expedition, which turned out to be the toughest I have done in the
past 5 years of road expeditions, recedes into the background when I
acknowledge that this would not have been possible, in the manner it was done
despite the stiff odds, without the spontaneous support, encouragement,
hospitality, motivational pats on the shoulder and, most importantly, prayers
of so many over social media and in person. It is from the bottom of my heart
that I thank all of you sincerely. This expedition saw me negotiate five
accidents, three incidents where I could have lost my life and an occasion when
my car was vandalised and I lost more than Rs 1 lakh worth of equipment. Almost
a similar amount will be required to bring the Champion back to her old self,
after suffering almost fatal battle wounds. Through it all you never permitted
my spirit and passion to flag or even think of quitting the expedition. It was
always forward and yet more ahead. Record Drive had achieved the distinction of
completing it's eighth expedition successfully and is on track to register the
twelfth Limca Record. My humble greetings and pranams to all of you,
personally, for being with me all the way.

Well
rested in Taj Vivanta, Chennai I took the last lap for Cochin early via
Sriperumbudur, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem, Coimbatore and Palghat. The
distance covered was 750 km in 11 hours. The roads were excellent most of the
way.

On reaching Cochin I dropped in at the Trans
Asian Shipping corporate office - the management led by Johnson Mathew has been
a source of tremendous support and motivation over the past 18 months. I spent
some time with colleagues detailing the expedition and the challenges faced.

Thereafter I reached home to a warm welcome by my cousin, Abe and dear friend, Mathew
Philip.

A night halt in Visakhapatnam has been a regular feature of my expeditions
since 2010 when I set out in the All India solo drive. The hosts have always
been the ever pleasant Thulasiram Nair and his gracious wife, Nandini. This
time too it was no different. I took leave of them after countless cups of tea
and delectable dosas with chutneys and 'gun powder'.

The 845 km drive, longest till date on this expedition,
was smoothly negotiated. The segment between Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada needs
attention. The second segment to Chennai was very good. Just short of Eluru met
Biju Jose, a Facebook friend and a senior member of the HVK Forum, and his
companions who are on a tour of Sikkim. I reached Chennai in time for a good
night's sleep. A business friend of mine had arranged accommodation at the Taj
Vivanta. The accommodation was top class and the food delectable.

I didn’t have much time to sleep but what
I got was quality sleep. I was ready to leave at the break of dawn despite
going to sleep an hour after midnight. Since the restaurant was open I thought
of having breakfast before starting off. After loading the luggage into the car
I ordered a paratha, thinking that that would be available in quick time. As it
transpired, the restaurant staff kept telling me that it is getting done fresh
and the fresh paratha arrived 30 minutes later when I was almost on the verge
of flying off the handle. The portion was hot, oily and so large that it took
me more than normal time to get to the end of it. It was tatsy indeed!

It took me slightly more than two hours to
motor the 180 km from Kolaghat to Balasore. The road was excellent and that was
a surprise to me. I was apprehensive about this stretch because I had found it in
the most awful condition in May when I was returning from the South East Asian
Expedition. Just after passing the town I saw a long queue of vehicles stuck on
a straight stretch of the NH45. It could be an accident, I thought, and
overtook the trucks and moved along the empty lane and realised that traffic
had stopped on both sides of the road. When I reached the head of the queue I
realised that the situation was more serious than what I had thought. It was an
agitation by villagers who were protesting for a right of way through the
structure that had divided their cropping lands. The newly built NH had divided
homes and farm property and many lives had been lost on that stretch when
attempting to cross from one side to the other on the surface. The demand of
the locals definitely seemed justified and many of the youngsters told me that
they had agitated three times before blocking the NH and every time the
district administration had agreed to get the matter resolved. Months having
passed with casualties going up they were in no mood to relent this time. They
alleged that the district administration was in cahoots with the NHAI and
delaying the execution of the underpass. They insisted that the Collector
should come to the site and give a personal assurance. In a short while a posse
of policemen arrived. I tried to reason with some of the leaders that I had an
appointment to keep in Visakhapatnam. They coolly told me to inform those who
were

waiting for me that I would be late! I asked the policemen if they could
help me. They told me to reason with the agitators. The number of agitators
swelled by the minute. Tarpaulins were spread on the road and men, women and
children were all raising slogans. Videos and stills were being shot for news
channels and newspapers. That made the agitators’ resolve stronger. Even two
wheelers were not permitted to go through. Only vehicles with sick people were
allowed to go through. Hooliganism also started to rear its ugly head. After
four hours of agonising wait I left the agitation spot after the agitators were
mollified and they were sure that their mugs would be on TV later that day!

After the vexatious journey yesterday it was a
carpet beauty most of the way between Kolaghat and Visakhapatnam, 820 km. The
scenic brilliance and the enjoyable driving experience was only rudely
interlaced by an agitation of villagers near Balasore that was just described and
an impassable queue of trucks at Ichchapuram, the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border.

The evening belonged to Thulasiram Nair and his
Kerala Kala Samithi friends who accorded a grand reception, the warmth and
welcome of which will linger for very long.

I
left the ORH in New Jalpaiguri expecting to be in Kolkata by 6 pm. The
expectation had factored in the 650 km that had to be covered in the day. As
the day panned out I had to change program and bypass Kolkata. Extremely
horrible roads, heavy truck traffic and snaking queues saw me take 5 hours from
Malda to Farakka - a distance of 25 km. What I experienced as so called roads
in West Bengal begged the questions: Is this India of the 21st century and, Is
this Make in India? Mamtadi's land is surely challenged in so far as civil
society infrastructure is concerned. Surely the excuse of heavy rains will be
forwarded. Then, is this all the technology we have? Or will vested interests
continue to play havoc with public funds and their use?

In sheer desperation as the driving day was
prolonging with no hope of reaching Kolkata I wanted to find out alternatives.
I was well and truly at my wits end. I reached out to Thulasiram in
Visakhapatnam, who connected me to his friend who had an encyclopaedic
knowledge of the area. He expertly guided me through the main roads and state
roads till I hit the National Highway 2. His expertise stemmed from his
professional engagements – he works with the Excise department. He suggested
that it would be better if I halted in Kolaghat and suggested a small hotel
too. Well past midnight I mercifully reached the Sher-e-Punjab at Kolaghat. An
ordeal of over 20 hours had come to an end. Imagine 20 stressful hours behind
the wheel to cover 650 km with hardly any rest in between.

The room at the Sher-e-Punjab was basic but
worth the price. The restaurant attached to the hotel was doing brisk business
even past the midnight hour. After ensuring that the car is parked safely I had
a small snack and hit the sack.

Fully rested and in fine mental shape I left
Maligaon before 6am. Just after the Maligaon town I took the Saraighat Bridge
and set course for Bongaigaon and Alipurduar. The drive was fairly smooth
except a portion before Nalbari, which was in bad shape. I reached the
Officers' Rest House in New Jalpaiguri before 3pm despite a diversion for a
broken wooden bridge. The 435 km drive was largely pleasant with topography and
scenery resembling Kerala.

I had enough and more time to settle in and
rearrange the luggage. The ORH was being painted. There were many high
officials supervising the makeover. Many of them wanted to know the
significance of the expedition. When told the details they were in total awe.
And they were proud that it was one of their kin, a railwayman, who had
accomplished it. I had many cups of tea while updating information over the
social media sites. I had also a lot of comments to reply to on the sites. While
completing the documentation over a meal of hot rotis, sabji and omelette I
realised that I had driven over 10500 km in the past 29 days.

It
was time to start the journey back home after the most grueling expedition I
been on. Success at the end of such an expedition did bring a lot of
satisfaction because there were times during it that I felt that I would not be
able to go on any further. Yet the task had been accomplished. Accidents,
strife in Nepal and numerous diversions did not matter in the end – the
objective had been realized.

This part of the country of valleys and
rivers are home to the Mishmi tribes that have customs and traditions dating
back to the days of the Mahabharata. It is said that Lord Krishna’s wife,
Rukmini, was from the Mishmi tribe! The legend of Parashuram and creation of
Kerala are all part of the folklore from Parshuram Kund. Pilgrims from all over
the country and neighboring countries come to the Kund to wash away sins of
many births, as Parashuram did after slaying his mother and brothers.

Rajesh, as is his wont, had made arrangements
with the ferry to take me across the River Brahmaputra. He came to the Circuit
House just as I was done with loading the luggage. It was a brilliant sunrise
that greeted us at the ferry point. Two other cars joined mine on the deck of
the ramshackle water transport. I suspect it had not seen many better days!
When I bid adieu to Rajesh he mentioned that the bridge would be ready by the
time I would make my next trip to Tezu. The road to Tezu from the Assam border
had indeed improved considerably since my visit there in 2013. Developmental
works are happening, but they need to benefit the local people instead of
lining the pockets of a few.

The roads in Assam too have improved by
leaps and bounds. I was worried that the road near Kaziranga would be in bad
condition because of the recent floods in which the National Park was severely
affected. While the road per se was not that affected cattle and makeshift
homes were everywhere. They were the most affected ones. Water was yet to
recede in many places and people were finding it difficult to eke out a living.
Cattle roamed the roads as their grazing lands had been taken over by flood
waters. People lived in small huts made of straw and wood beside the road since
their dwellings were still under water. They were poignant scenes, but the
smiles on the faces of kids as they played with traditional toys reinforced the
thought that better days awaited them, and soon.

The drive from Tezu to Maligaon was
largely uneventful. Even though I missed the nondescript turn off to the Railway
ORH I reached it without too much of hassle around twilight time. The 640 km
drive had consumed 14 hours. The comfortable room and the nutritious hot meal
served well to rest the weary body.

So this would be it. I had begun the
last day of the Trans Himalayan Expedition that would take me from Itanagar to
Tezu. The original route via Pasighat and Roing to Tezu was closed due to
flooding and I had to divert, yet again, via Dhemaji, Bogibeel ghat and
Dibrugarh. The Bogibeel ghat crossing took more than an hour. A massive rail
cum road bridge is under construction over the River Brahmaputra at Bogibeel. I
wondered what that would do to the local enterprise that had been built on
ferry crossings. Besides the ferries there were small eateries that served tea
and snacks and rice and fish curry even at 11 am. A large contingent of the
army was also on its way across the river and separate ferries had been
arranged for them.

I was pleasantly surprised to experience
better roads on the Arunachal side after Dibrugarh. When I had done this
stretch in 2013 it had been agonizing. In a few months, I was informed ferry
crossing across the River Brahmaputra may be a thing of the past as a new
bridge is under construction. Rajesh of Arunachal Pradesh police had organized
my ferry crossing. When I reached the ferry point I was met by the hap in
charge who positioned the car properly for the next crossing. In a short while
two army vehicles came to the jetty and wanted to jump the queue. This was
stubbornly refused by the ferry in charge

and the local people who were already
in the queue! By 5 pm I was on the ferry doing the crossing to Tezu. The
destination of the expedition was just a few minutes away. It was ecstasy
crossing the ferry to Tezu at 5 pm and I could not contain the unbounded joy.
Accidents, vandalism, disappointments, delays and all of this I encountered in
the expedition. And now, I was near the end point of the expedition. Such
moments are indescribably joyous.

Rajesh of Arunachal Pradesh police was
on hand to receive me at the ferry point and lodge me in the Circuit House. By
6.15 pm I was in Tezu and the expedition had been completed. The final leg of
the expedition of 418 km was completed in 14 hours! Rajesh organised a meeting
with the Malayalee diaspora in Tezu in the Circuit House. I got the log sheet
attested by the senior among those who had come. What an expedition it had
been. Without a doubt it was the most challenging I had done so far. There were
times when the thought of giving up crossed my mind, especially after the
accident in Srinagar. But thanks to the support of friends and well wishers who
egged me on I was able to complete a most arduous solo drive that would test
the best.

Later Rajesh took me to the residence of
the Superintendent of Police, Ved Prakash Surya. I spent some time with the
family discussing eth adventure and life in Tezu. Thereafter, Rajesh virtually
dragged me to the residence of the MLA Dr Chai. I was quite tired by then and
my thought was purely on getting into bed for the night. We had to wait for
quite a while before the youthful Dr Chai, a medical doctor by profession, came
in after a rigorous session of badminton. A very humble and down to earth, it was
interesting to understand local politics and gather people’s aspirations from
him. Before I left the couple Mrs and Dr Chai presented me with traditional
handicrafts.

An expedition that had posed many
challenges saw spontaneous outpourings of positive and prayerful sentiments.
The original schedule was overshot by over two and half days. It finally came
to an end after 18 days and 14 hours which saw the Champion log over 5800 km.
The terrain was the toughest I have been on compared to all the previous ones
in the past 5 years.

‘While tourism may be
important as a revenue earner, Bhutan sees no gain in succumbing to over
commercialism. It recognizes that a small country emerging from isolation must
do so in its own time and at its own pace. The Tourism council of Bhutan is
clear that its policy of high value, low volume is the right policy because
Bhutan is just too small for mass tourism. And as the world begins to discover
the Land of the Thunder Dragon, many go away with a sense of having been in a
special place, far from the insanity of modern living. Here is a land where
life may not be materially luxurious but it provides much that is good for a
society that is not yet caught up with the global rat race'

What I experienced in Bhutan is just
what the Tourism council prescribed. Crass commercialism leading to degradation
of the environment and corruption of local cultures normally accompany
unfettered tourism. Many countries see tourism as a low hanging fruit to bring
in extra revenues. By the time the mixed blessing that tourism is is discovered
it would be too late to reverse the damages done.

I left the lodge early hoping to cover
as much of the distance before the traffic picked up. Also, I had to traverse
many so-called ‘sensitive areas’ to get to Itanagar later in the day. I reached
the Indo-Bhutan border and had to wait for the gate to open at 5.30 am, Bhutan
time. The friendly guards mentioned that they would talk to their Indian
counterparts to see if the gate could be opened earlier. Their hands were
forced by a few high ranking officials who reached the gate fifteen minutes
before official gate opening time. A flurry of activity followed and the gates
were opened without much fanfare. I drove into west Bengal, India and
immediately experienced the Indianness. Garbage, stinks, pollution, undisciplined
road use, et al! However, my mind was set on reaching Tezu the next day.

I was diverted by paramilitary force to
route via Rangia instead of Udalguri. Yet another deviation from the route set
by Limca Book of Records. Even then it was not over. Three districts of Assam were
affected by bandh. Local police accompanied traffic in a convoy to avoid
miscreant activity and the route was changed via Tezpur, Gohpur and Hollangi to
Itanagar. The road condition between Hollangi and Itanagar made the Bhutan
roads look mild in comparison. Two young friends on a motorbike intercepted me en
route to Rangia to get details of the trip.

My accommodation was pre-arranged in the
Itanagar State Guest House in Naharlagun that used to be the residence of the
Governor of the State many years ago. To reach the guest house I traversed the
entire town that had become chaotic due to poorly managed infrastructure works
and vehicle population. I stopped at a small intercession to enquire about the
location of the guest house. As luck would have it, the person hailed from
Kerala and he was on his way to his residence not far from the guest house! Amidst
conversation about life in Arunachal Pradesh he conducted me to the historic

building, next door to which is the High Court. In the past, the High Court used
to be the Chief Minister's residence. The drive on the eighteenth day of the
expedition had concluded in Itanagar after 380 km in 10 hours.

The
caretaker of the guest house was reluctant to accommodate me since I did not
have a letter of allotment. I had to speak to the former SP of Tezu to get the
matter sorted out. The cook said that he would not be able to provide lunch at
that hour. So I went to a small eatery just outside the guest house complex and
had puri and sabji, albeit in the most unhygienic surroundings. Later I
completed the final editing of ‘The Glorious Endeavour’ and had a chat with the
printer, as I wanted to get the book released by the end of the month. The cook
was rather gracious about dinner and I had a sumptuous hot meal. But the air
conditioning in the room gave trouble through the night and robbed me of a well
earned rest.

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About Me

I believe that a smile will help you through the most trying circumstances, for one smile begets another. The journey of my life has been exciting, fulfilling and thoroughly enjoyable. I have got more out of my life than I have deserved and hence, am contended and grateful. I consider it fortunate to have had the most wonderful parents, grandparents and teachers to groom me during the early years. I have a great family consisting of my wife (Beena), my daughter (Maya), her husband (Kiron), their children, Eva and Aaron, and my son (Ajay). My brother (Satheesh) and his family in Cochin as also my sister (Geetha) and her family in the USA are the feathers in my nest.